Fillmore Games
by halfley
Summary: Ellery Riser and Chase Graves hate each other. They don't hide it and the whole company knows. But Ellery Riser has a secret, a secret that still haunts her. When her life in Seattle gets threatened by plans already in motion prior to her moving there, Ellery has to choose a side: humans or zombies?
1. Chapter 1

Her fingers attacked the keyboard furiously, her frown deepening even further and the bobble head pen between her fingers jumping up and down. Ellery looked up briefly from the email she was writing and noticed Chase Graves at the other side of the hallway. He was talking to Sir Escargot and Ellery swore he actually ate them when he was still human. Chase looked at her and Ellery shot daggers at him. Even she could, she would have thrown knives at him too. Chase's response to her death glare, was an equally angry one. Ellery groaned in frustration and went back to attacking her keyboard.

"…And the mere audacity to cut me off in the break room is just infuriating. Not only does he eat brain mush almost every day, he doesn't even NEED coffee! He's a zombie! If I could I would throw knives at him and draw a black moustache on his face for good measure! Chase Graves is THE most annoying man on this planet and I want OUT! Save me Liv! Please! I need a girls night out!"

She mumbled every word and slammed the enter button down one final time. She clicked send and waited. But not for long. She grabbed her black kitty mug and brought it to her lips when she saw she had finished her third cup that morning. She sighed and walked to the break room when she heard the familiar sound of Chase's office door, Sir Escargot caught up with her and said, "Once you have refilled that mug, he wants to see you." Ellery rolled her eyes and groaned. Sir Escargot sighed before walking into the opposite direction.

Ellery filled her cup with another dose of coffee and added her usual three spoons of sugar. She then left and walked to Chase's office. Chase Graves was the new Big Boss of Fillmore Graves and despite his office being open and perhaps friendly. There was nothing friendly about him. She knocked once and entered. Chase was standing behind his desk with his eyes looking down at the monitor of his computer. He motioned for her to sit down and as Ellery put her coffee mug down, he said: "'If I could, I would throw knives at him and draw a black moustache on his face for good measure! Chase Graves is the most annoying man on this planet and I want out! Save me Liv! Please! I need a girls night out!'" Ellery turned tomato red from the neck up, she had sent the email to Chase and not Liv. Ellery stood up and opened her mouth but Chase cut her off, "Throw knives at me? You know I can kill you in an instant. If I could, I would have you kicked out of Fillmore Graves right now. But the Seattle PD needs our help. So I can't." Ellery now fumed with anger and between gritted teeth she said, "What's stopping you? A human?" Chase walked towards her and looked down at her, literally. Ellery was at least two heads smaller than him and reached his upper torso. He narrowed his eyes and said, "I can't kick you out because it would look bad. For me and the mayor." Ellery snorted, "yeah right." She picked up her coffee mug and walked to the door when Chase said, "Oh and Ellery? Next time, don't send me these kind of emails. Although I'm flattered, I think Liv would want her emails sent to her. Not me." Ellery turned on her heel and cracked the most fake smile she could ever have given him and added a sweet, "Sure!" For good measure. She watched as Chase's jaw clenched and walked out. Happy she succeeded. Chase hated her sweet responses and smiles. To him, she was too kind, too happy. Ellery entered her own office and typed away again, occasionally taking a sip from her coffee.

At Lunch time, she took out her sandwiches and cheesecake for dessert when an email pops up in her inbox. She clicks it and it's from Chase. She can feel every ounce of annoyance in every word. Every pixel.

'Ellery Riser,  
I need the numbers from last month's transactions and actions taken against zombies. Include the attacks by humans as well.  
Chase Graves.  
P.S.: Are these the knives you wanted?'

Ellery glanced at the image attached to the email. There, right there. A kit of throwing knives, Hello Kitty themed. Ellery grabbed the nearest bobble head pen and broke it two. She clicked away from the email and started working on the numbers Chase wanted. Once done she walked to his office not bothering to knock and dropped the files on the table. Chase and a few colleagues looked up at her. Ellery glared at Chase, not even smiling. She gestured towards them and said, "There. Done." Chase stood up from his chair, "You're supposed to knock." Ellery layed a hand across her heart and dramatically gasped, "Goodness me! I forgot to knock? So sorry boss." She spit out the word boss as if it was something dirty. Something sour. She knocked on the table and then said in the same tone as before, "There. Done." She turned on her heels and walked out. Chase sighed and said back down, apologizing for the interruption.

At 5:30 that evening Ellery logged off and grabbed her bag and coat. She walked to the entrance when Chase called her inside his office. Ellery cursed and walked inside, "Yes?" Chase put a few files away and said, "Next time you walk into my office unannounced, I'm going to kick you out. You do not enter unannounced!" Ellery just stood there, "Maybe if you weren't such a prick, I would have considered knocking." Chase sighed and put his index finger and thumb on his nose bridge, pinching it. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Ellery. Go home." She had heard that tone and sentence before. He had dismissed her like that before. When he was angry. His tone would almost sound threatening and it would sound a lot darker. She knew what possibly followed, and she didn't want to see it. She knew she had to get out. Her breathing picked up and her heart started racing. She quickly turned on her heels and walked out. She made it to the entrance when she heard Chase throw papers on the ground and then it grew eerily quiet. Ellery walked to her car and got inside. She turned on the engine and as her headlights came on, she saw his silhouette in the doorway of the entrance. She didn't need super vision to know he had slipped and was in full-on zombie mode. Something Chase rarely if not at all did. But Ellery knew how to get under his skin and that endangered her life. She hit the gas pedal hard, and raced out of the parking lot. The silhouette behind her followed her and she took turns at each corner. Making sure Chase didn't know where she lived. Once he gave up, Ellery drove home and dialled the first number in her contacts: Vivian Riser.

After three beeps, she heard Vivian's voice and slid down her front door.

'Hi this is Vivian! I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message!'

The voice mail got followed by a beep and Ellery begged, "Viv? It's me. I can't do this anymore. I want to come home. I'm resigning. I quit. I hate New Seattle. I want to come home..."  
She hung up and looked at her apartment, Flower stickers hung on a wall above the blue couch, the flat screen TV opposite of the couch was dark and the white curtains let in the light from outside. Ellery knew every inch of it, she knew there was a mug in the kitchen sink, white with yellow polka dots. Her bedroom was white and her sheets were a floral design. Her plates were all sets, sorted by colour. She had the rainbow in her cabinets. The scent of daisies filled the apartment with a thin layer, not too much and just enough. Ellery stared at the cabinets in her kitchen and screamed when someone knocked on her front door. Ellery opened the door and looked at Liv. Liv stood there, concerned and asked, "Are you okay?" Ellery sighed, "I thought you were someone else." Liv smiled, "I noticed and I got a text saying you needed some girl time." Ellery shrugged, letting Liv in.

Liv sat down on the blue couch and asked, "What happened?" Ellery sighed and said, "I pissed off Chase." Liv nodded, "Do you want me to stay over? I can. The morgue isn't far away from here." Ellery shook her head and sat down next to her, "I just pissed him off. But he's getting under my skin." Liv chuckled, "You and him have been in a constant state of hate, ever since you started working at Fillmore Graves. Maybe you two need a do-over?" Ellery glared at her, "A do-over? What I need is a new job!" Liv smiled apologetically, "Keep fighting. You'll get there. Besides, Clive has a lead on a new case. Which led us to Fillmore Graves." Ellery sat up straight, "So I can leave soon?!" Liv bit her lower lip, "Uhm... not really." Ellery's eyes widened, "What?!" Liv held up her hands defensively, "You can always complain to HR. Or Clive. He'll talk to Fillmore Graves if you want to." Ellery nodded and yawned, Liv stood up "Have you eaten anything?" Ellery shook her head. Liv grabbed a pear green plate and made Ellery a sandwich.

After dinner, Ellery drifted off to sleep, the adrenaline wearing off and Liv texted Peyton to tell her she was staying over. Liv watched Ellery sleep, making sure Ellery didn't have any nightmares. Once Liv was sure she grabbed a blanket and went to sleep as well.


	2. Chapter 2

The door to Chase's office opened, Ellery looked up from her files and looked at his back. As the door closed their eyes met and Ellery quickly looked away. The events from last night still fresh in her memory. She sighed and watched her hands shake a little, the memory from that night had worked its way back up from the pits of her mind and had haunted her dreams. The only thing Ellery was good at was disguising a nightmare while sleeping. She closed her eyes and did her breathing exercises.

She didn't notice the door to her office opened and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt someone breathing down her neck, she swung her stapler at whoever it was.  
Chase grabbed her wrist and looked Ellery in her eyes, "You're clearly not okay." Ellery inhaled and puffed up her chest, not breathing out. Trying to control the fear that whirled up, "You think? You went corpse on me!" Chase raised an eyebrow, "I went what on you?" Ellery swallowed, "Zombie. You went zombie on me." Chase sighed, "Well I am a zombie and it's your fault." Ellery let go of the stapler which hit Chase's foot, "Oops, my hand slipped. It must be due to your face." Chase glared at her. Ellery frowned and with the most innocent voice she asked, "Did no one tell you-you're ugly? Then they must be very kind to your face." Chase narrowed his eyes, "At least I don't look like a candy store." Ellery scoffed, "And I'm not still holding my wrist up." Chase looked at Ellery's hand which she waved at him. Chase sighed and let go, "Get to work miss Riser." Ellery held her nose up and turned her head away, "So uptight." Chase left her office and Ellery picked up her stapler. Slamming a staple in a post-it and copying the numbers from the files into the computer file.

When the files were copied, she brought them back to Chase's office. She knocked, barely being able to hold them all in one arm, she walked in and she watched how Chase suppressed a laugh when he saw her. Ellery dumped the files on his desk, "Get that smile off your face, Graves. I can talk to the chief of police and this friendly arrangement is gone." Chase shrugged, "Good, no more crayon vomit." Ellery narrowed her eyes, "That also means, no special treatment when you need us." Chase looked at her, she made a point. Chase sat straight in his chair and sighed. Ellery reached over to grab another stack of files but Chase stopped her, "Not those." Ellery noticed how close he sounded and she could feel his breath on her neck. Ellery looked down at him and she looked up and she let go of the stack of files. Chase swallowed and handed her a bigger stack, Ellery groaned. Chase chuckled, "If you can't handle it Crayon Box, I can ask someone else to do it." Ellery snorted and grabbed the stack, "I can handle it." She walked to her office and started on the next pile.

At the end of her day, Ellery walked to Chase's office and knocked. Entering and dumping the last file on his desk. He wasn't inside and she didn't plan on snooping but his work schedule laid on his desk. Or so she thought. She looked at the single letter written on today and when she wondered who or what it might be, his phone lit up. She glanced at the screen and a text caught her eye:

'Still on for tonight?'

The sender was a woman called Sarah. Ellery rolled her eyes and looked up, her blood chilled and her heart briefly stopped. Busted. Chase stood in the doorway of his office, "Do you find it interesting?" Ellery cracked a smile and walked towards him to exit the room and said, "Don't keep Sarah waiting." Chase grabbed her arm and pulled her back in his office and closed the door. Ellery looked at him, "What? Now you don't have a snappy comment? 'Don't keep your TV waiting', nothing?" Chase looked at her and his eyes briefly lowered to her lips, Ellery bit her lower lip. Chase blinked as if he got pulled back to reality, "Don't snoop Crayon Box." Ellery frowned, "Don't call me Crayon Box." Chase smiled, "Why not Crayon Box?" Ellery balled her fists, "Do NOT call me Crayon Box, you stupid... Stupid stick! Always being so uptight! Live a little!" Chase pulled her to the side and pinned her against the wall, "Uptight?" Ellery nodded, "Poor Sarah. She'll be bored in a few hours. No, I'll give it twenty minutes." Chase's eyes went from her eyes to her lips and back, "You sure about that?" Ellery smirked, "With a guy like you, anyone is bound to get bored." Chase leaned closer and Ellery felt his breath on her neck, it tickled her skin, "Really?" he mumbled. Ellery froze, she had no idea what to do but her heart started racing. Chase smiled as her hand reached for his head on instinct, "Little Crayon Box." Ellery grabbed a hand full of his hair and pulled him backwards, "Do NOT call me that!" She stomped towards the door and said, "I'm reporting you!"

Chase chuckled, not believing a word she said.

Ellery logged off and walked out, walking to her car and driving off to meet Peyton and Liv for some well-deserved girl time. She longed for a glass of wine and letting off steam. She parked her car, locked it and made her way to Liv's apartment. She dumped her bag and coat as she walked to the couch and sat down, "Can you believe it? Chase Graves has the nerve to call me Crayon Box. Not only that, he totally ignored my personal space! Why on earth is he all up in my face and personal space for no reason!" Liv and Peyton shared a look and walked to the couch. Peyton handed Ellery a glass of wine, "Maybe he likes you?" Ellery snorted, "Yeah right. And I'm the pope." Liv took a sip of her glass, "Ellery, Peyton could be right. When Clive and I visited Fillmore Graves this morning, he was looking at your desk in concern." Ellery looked at Liv and pointed her finger at her, "That's because he considers me an employee. Chase Graves is an ass and he knows it!" Peyton smiled, "Maybe you like him?" Ellery nearly spilled her wine, "No! He can die and I won't shed a single tear!" Liv stood up and grabbed some snacks. She put them down and Ellery stuffed her mouth full, pouring it all down with a gulp of wine. She sighed and said, "I'm reporting him to HR tomorrow morning." Peyton sighed, "Liv told me about what he did. Maybe you two need to team building or something." Ellery raised an eyebrow, "Paintballing is the only thing those Fillmore soldiers want to do. Guns, guns, guns. No thanks." Liv smiled, "Well, Peyton and I are going to a party Friday night. You can come with us." Ellery put her glass of wine down, "What's the dress code?" Peyton shared a look with Liv before saying, "Formal." Ellery groaned, "I think my blue gown is ruined. Some dude put out his cigarette near an open window one time and my dress has burn holes." Peyton looked at her, "Don't you have other dresses?" Ellery looked at her knees, "Well. I have this one dress..." Liv smiled, "It's settled then! We're all going to the party!" Ellery sighed, hoping she wouldn't have to see Chase at the party.

But alas, as Friday came and the girls got ready to go out, Ellery got a call from Chase. Saying he would be out and wanted her to finish up some paperwork. Ellery flat our rejected and told him she had plans.

At the venue, Ellery grabbed a glass of champagne and looked around, they had dragged her to a bar and at the last minute, Peyton had said she didn't feel like going to a formal event. So the girls were now spending money on cocktails in cocktail dresses. Peyton looked at Ellery and said, "Liv once came here for a case. She saw Chase here." Liv shifted in her seat, "It's a hotel bar and I met him at the fundraiser." Ellery raised an eyebrow, "What were you doing here with Chase?" Liv looked away, "I ... kind of, slept with him." Ellery gasped, "No way! You and Chase?" Liv smiled in response. Ellery laughed.

"Enjoying your drinks ladies?" A voice asked. Ellery swore and looked up, "Shit." she repeated. Liv and Peyton stared at Chase. Ellery grimaced, "Where's Sarah?" Chase looked over his shoulder at the bar, the girls followed his gaze and a blonde, looking like a model, waved at them. Ellery sighed, of course, he would go out with the perfect woman." Chase laid a folder on Ellery's desk, "We're going on a business retreat. The whole company. Or at least two sections. I'll see you on Monday." He walked away and Ellery looked at the folder, "Can you believe he just did that?" Liv and Peyton looked at the folder after Peyton grabbed it. Peyton whistled, "That's not bad. Quite expensive actually." Ellery sighed, "Well I'm not going." Liv and Peyton looked at her and said in unison "You are."

The rest of the night went well. Ellery left before they did and made it halfway through the parking lot before she heard a fight. She looked at the direction it came from and saw Chase and his date, Sarah. Fighting. She walked up to Chase as Sarah left. He heard her and the red eyes greeted her. Ellery kept walking towards him and grabbed his face between her hands. His breathing was fast and Ellery looked at him, not entirely sure what she was doing, "Chase. Chase it's me. It's Ellery. Calm down. Please." Chase kept staring at her and his breathing slowed down. His eyes returned to normal and he quickly removed her hands from his face. He got into his car and drove off with screeching tires. Ellery stood in the parking lot, stunned. She drove home and didn't know entirely what had happened. She looked at her phone once inside her apartment and dialled the number again.

'Hi! It's Vivian. I can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message!'


	3. Chapter 3

Monday morning Ellery stood at the bus in front of the Fillmore Graves company. A small suitcase in her hand, of course, covered in flowers. Bright enough to blind anyone who dared to look at it directly. At the front of the row, Chase ticked off everyone who got on the bus like a school teacher. The row grew shorter and Ellery hoped for a way to get out of the business retreat. But she had no such luck.

She looked at Chase who looked at his clipboard with his pen hovering above it, "Name?" he asked. Ellery raised an eyebrow, "Really? You're asking for my name?" Chase looked up from his clipboard, "Ah Miss Crayon Box." He ticked off her name and Ellery walked onto the bus. Not even allowing him a glare in response to the nickname she hates. She was about to sit down next to a guy she hadn't seen before when Chase cleared his throat and pointed at a seat in the front. Ellery sighed and as she sat down, she looked at a pile of paperwork. Chase walked up to her, "Since you had plans on Friday, you're doing it now." Ellery looked at him, "I want to strangle you." Chase looked at her, "You take the words right out of my mouth." Ellery sat down next to the pile and as the bus drove off, she started working on the paperwork.

When they arrived, Ellery handed Chase the pile "There," she said walking off the bus and carrying her bag to the rest of the group. Chase walked up to her and showed her a document. The writing was jagged and some typed sentences were stricken, "What's this?" Ellery looked at the document, "Your paperwork."Chase rolled his eyes, "It's jagged. This can't be delivered to any boss. Did you even try?" Ellery looked at the paper, "By the look of things, yes. Next time, don't make me do your paperwork when we're on the road." Chase stopped her from going inside the hotel, "What makes you think you're dismissed? Redo this. I'll give you the files after dinner." Ellery watched him walk inside and her jaw nearly hit the floor. Redo the whole pile? She opened her handbag and pulled out the first item she could find. Her compact mirror. She threw the compact mirror at his head. Chase turned around, "Are you asking to be fired?" Ellery shrugged, "Why the hell not? You're giving me work. Too much work. I have less and less time for breaks!" Chase walked up to her, invading her personal space, "I'm your boss." Ellery snorted, "Oh please. Get over yourself." She shoved him inside and picked up her compact mirror and walked inside. She grabbed her hotel room key and walked to the elevator.

She pressed the number of her floor and waited patiently as colleagues walked inside and pressed a button for the floor below her. As they got off, Chase entered the elevator. Ellery rolled her eyes, "Great. What's next? You start haunting my dreams?" Chase looked at her, "Dreams?" Ellery looked at him, "Oh I'm sorry. I meant nightmares. Your face is too horrible to be considered dream material." Chase looked at the doors of the elevator, "Good to know we agree on something. We're both monsters haunting each other's nightmares. In mine, you annoy me to death." Ellery chuckled, "That's it? In mine, you bury me under paperwork and do boring things like sign documents. continuously." A loud ding alerted them they were on the next floor and both got off. Walking in opposite directions.  
Ellery opened her room and slammed it shut and jumped on the ground in frustration, "What a jerk!" She unpacked her suitcase and laid down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling and sighed. Great, she was going to do paperwork while the rest were doing team building exercises. Ellery changed into something more comfortable: A purple sweater with ice cream cones and a pair of grey sweatpants with a pair of Ugg boots that had seen better days. She put her hair up in a ponytail and made her way down to the hotel's restaurant.

She found her colleagues already seated and she joined them. The waiters served them their appetizers. Brain Carpaccio for most of her colleagues and Salmon Carpaccio for her. The rest of the evening was the same for the whole group. At Dessert, Ellery excused herself and walked to the Hotel's bar. She ordered a drink and heard the faint laughter of the men. The majority of testosterone hadn't scared her before, but now she was doubting whether she fit in or not. Drink after drink she heard their laughter until that slowly drifted away and her surroundings started dancing. When she was finally resting her head on the bar and babbling to herself, the seat next to her got occupied. She looked at the person and rolled her eyes at him, "What do you want? More paperwork?" Chase chuckled. Ellery looked up and sat up straight, "Did you just ... chuckle?" Chase looked at her, "How many drinks did you have?" Ellery looked at the bartender, "Oi, Jim! How many?" The bartender looked up from his glass he was cleaning and said, "Four? Maybe more." Chase looked from the bartender to Ellery, "That's quite a few." Ellery smiled, "You may not know. But you're handsome." Chase raised an eyebrow, "What?" Ellery nodded and pointed at him, "You sir, are handsome." Chase rolled his eyes and said, "Let's go. You're drunk."

Ellery and Chase walked to the elevator and he pressed the button for their floor. As they waited for the elevator to reach the floor, she leaned on his shoulder and asked, "Why are you so uptight? Are you married to your rulebook?" Chase smiled, "No." Ellery looked in front of her. The ding from the elevator snapping her out of a daydream. Chase and Ellery walked to her room and as they walked in, Ellery grabbed his sleeve, "I'm going to see if I can't kill the alcohol buzz." Chase nodded.

Ellery freshened up in her bathroom. Chase looked at her wardrobe, touching the fabric and shaking his head at the bright colours and the bright accents on black items. Something caught his eye as he went through it again. All the dresses and shirts were long sleeved. Every skirt had a matching pair of stockings that wasn't see through at all. Even dresses had a matching pair. He frowned and turned around when he heard her say, "I'll doubt you'll fit." Chase held out a dark blue sleeve, "Why do you always wear sleeves?" Ellery bit her lower lip. Chase walked up to her, "What?" Ellery rolled up her sleeve as far as she could. Revealing a scar, "To hide these." Chase frowned at it. He walked around her, stopping to take off the sweater she was wearing. Underneath the purple sweater, she wore a tank top and Chase saw how scars ran up her arms towards her shoulders, crisscrossing over each other. They even crisscrossed across her chest. Chase looked at them, "What happened?" His voice was almost a whisper. Ellery let him touch one that ran across her chest. His finger traced it and she could feel the skin almost burn. That's how sensitive it still was. Ellery felt her world turn blurry and she heard how her breathing hitched. Chase looked her in her eyes. Suddenly she snapped out of it and pushed him towards the door, "You should go. I'm tired." She pushed him outside and closed her door. Locking it.

The next morning, she sat down at the table alone. She had heard a few of her colleagues leave earlier that morning. She was eating breakfast when the seat near her got occupied. Chase Graves. Ellery shifted her weight in her chair and focused on her scrambled eggs. Chase looked at her, a sweater with long sleeves and her sweatpants. This time her hair covered her face. He was about to open his mouth when Ellery said, "Don't. I rather you do not talk to me at all." Ellery left the dining hall. She went back to her room and dropped the pile of files she had to re-do at Chase's door. Or what she assumed to be his. She then walked back to her room and locked the door. She walked to the bathroom and took off her sweater. She looked at the scars and took her sweatpants off. The scars crisscrossed along her upper legs towards her stomach. Some bigger than others. Some had been deeper than others. And for a second, she was back. Back inside that building. The writing on the walls her only focus and her screams the only sound she could hear. Ellery blinked and it was all gone. She put on her sweatpants again and sat on her bed. She grabbed one of the crossword puzzles she had taken with her and filled them in to pass time.

Occasionally she could hear someone knock on her door. Asking how she was doing. Asking if she was sick or not. She didn't appear at dinner that evening and she didn't sneak out to grab something to eat. She fell asleep on her bed, dressed and didn't see the shadow at her door. Followed by a knock. A soft one. The knock got followed by a mumble and the person slowly walked away. Only to return and opening her door with a master key. The person walked inside and closed the door. Sitting down on her bed and stroking her hair.

Chase Graves looked at her face. Her eyes closed, stroking her hair. "What happened to you," he asked. Himself more than her. He checked her pulse to make sure she wasn't sick and left a plate with a sandwich on her nightstand. He walked out of her room and walked to his own. Going to bed.


End file.
